Reading for December 25th

Read Judges 12.1-15
In verses 1-5: War between Ephraim and Gilead.
In verses 1-3: The reader does not know which side to believe.
No such appeal to Ephraim by Jephthah has been reported.
In verse 4: Ephraim insults Gilead as being nothing but fugitives or refugees from Ephraim, insisting that Gilead is really only a part of Ephraim and Manasseh.
In verse 5: Gilead blocks the way back across the Jordan and uses a difference in local dialect as a password.
The phrase fugitives of Ephraim grimly echoes their earlier taunt (v. 4).
In verse 7: This information seems to derive from the list of minor judges (10.1-5; 12.8-15).
In verses 8-15: Minor Judges: Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon.
In verse 12: Elon is remembered as a clan ancestor in Zebulun (Gen 46.4).
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